Eye patch
by UndeadFae
Summary: The story behind the eye patch.


Still reposting my stuff from ao3

I'm kinda surprised there really aren't that many fics about Sakuma's eye patch? So here we go

* * *

When he walked into the classroom to find his friend's seat empty, Genda frowned. Something wasn't right, he could tell even without knowing. Maybe he was just running late? Genda made sure of checking the hall and peek out of the window just in case, but no, still no trace of his best friend whatsoever. Odd.

In a weak attempt to tell himself that Sakuma might really just be running late or just caught a cold and didn't tell him, Genda quietly headed towards his own seat, decided to wait and to keep convincing himself that everything was fine. Why should he worry when Sakuma would definitely come? Even if he did skip school, he would never miss their soccer practice. Then he would just go and chide him for leaving him alone, then they would do homework together, Sakuma would help him with the toughest exercises all while trying to hammer math into his head, and then they would rush outside to play before it was dinner time. Yep, nothing to worry about. He stubbornly ignored the uneasy gut feeling telling him he was wrong.

The day passed without any trace or sign of his friend whatsoever.

It didn't take much longer to find out what was going on.

When Sakuma didn't show up the next day either, Genda refused to keep quiet and wait any longer. That was how he found out the truth from the teacher.

Sakuma was in the hospital.

It took a while to calm down the panicking child enough to convince him that his friend wasn't dying and that he didn't need to cry, much to the teacher's dismay.

When he was finally reassured that yes, Sakuma would be ok and just needed to recover, Genda made up his mind. He couldn't possibly leave his friend all alone in a hospital room, right? He had to go and visit him.

Lucky him, it didn't take much to convince his mom to buy a nice present (a cute stuffed penguin, just like the ones he recently found out Sakuma adored) and drive him to the hospital (not like it was that easy to say no to a six-years-old's sad puppy eyes). He didn't even let his mom come with him, kindly asking her to wait for him while he visited his friend. Once a nurse pointed him in the right direction, Genda made his way towards Sakuma's room, stuffed penguin held close to his chest.

In the lonely room, Sakuma was sitting on his bed, his visible eye lost into nothing, the other hidden under layers of bandages. When the door opened, he didn't pay it any mind, already expecting yet another doctor or nurse coming in. He didn't expect to see a mane of messy auburn hair carrying a plushie almost as big as him.

"... Genda?" His dumb and bright grin peeked from behind the penguin.

"Hi Sakuma!"

"What... what are you doing here?" Genda just pouted and puffed his cheeks.

"I came to visit you! I didn't want to leave you here all alone- and I brought you a present!" With that, he carefully laid the penguin on Sakuma's lap. Sakuma eyed it for a moment, a hand hesitantly reaching out to touch the plush, a tiny smile making its way on his face as he felt the soft fabric. It didn't look like much, but Genda took it as a good sign.

"... Thank you..."

While Genda pulled a chair closer to sit next to his friend, Sakuma took the penguin to clutch it tightly in his arms, as if it was the only source of comfort he could find in that place.

The smile was gone as soon as it came.

"I... I don't know if... if I'll play soccer again..."

For a moment, Genda was silent, watching him as if he expected to be told that was a lie. His own smile was already wavering.

"... What?" That couldn't be true, right? Sakuma couldn't stop playing soccer, he always had so much fun with it-

"My eye... the doctor said it doesn't work anymore." He was trying to hide his face in the penguin's fabric by now, his voice quiet and muffled. "I-I can't see so well anymore- I-I can't even walk without hitting myself and tripping over stuff-" Genda could tell he was fighting back tears. His voice was reduced to a weak whisper. "... how can I play if I can't even kick the ball?"

"You'll keep playing."

That was enough to get Sakuma's attention, hesitantly turning to look at Genda. His smile was completely gone, his face set into a hardened determination no child his age should be able to show.

"... What... what do you mean...?"

"If you can still see then you should be able to play, right? I'm sure you just have to get used to it!" Genda wasn't going to let Sakuma give up any time soon. He was almost grateful for his sheer stubbornness.

"How can you be so sure?" His question was almost wary. The last thing he wanted was false hope.

"I just... I-I don't know- but I know you can do it! And I'll be there to help you." The smile was back on his face, softer and warmer than before. "You just worry about getting better so you can leave the hospital, ok? I promise I'll keep visiting until you can leave."

It shouldn't have felt like much, really, it wasn't anything more than Genda's usual stubbornness refusing to let him give up... and yet it managed to make him smile anyways. His grip on the stuffed penguin was tighter. He wouldn't be letting go of it any time soon.

"... Thank you."

* * *

If there was one thing Sakuma truly loathed, it was looking at himself in the mirror when his eyepatch was off. It was an ugly sight, a dull and milky eye, useless and dead for years. Even after finally managing to get used to it, to go back to living his life as normally as he could, the dead eye would always be there, always a source of self-loathing and discomfort. Just another constant in his life.

The eye patch might be just another way of reminding him what was hiding beneath, but at least it helped.

It might just be another reminder of his useless eye, but accidentally misplacing his eye patch when he took it off to wash his face did not help in the slightest. On the bright side, he was alone in the locker room, the rest of the team already having left once practice was over. Small blessings- Sakuma really didn't want to risk any of them looking at his eye.

With a tired sigh, he started going through the locker room in search of that damn thing.

He was so caught up in his search, in his distress at the thought of having to leave without his eye patch, that he didn't even hear the door opening, someone walking in.

"Jirou?" He froze once he heard that voice. It was the last person he wanted to see in this kind of situation.

"K-Koujirou? What...?"

"Hey... Is something wrong?" His voice was filled with worry, yet soft enough in his attempts to calm him down. Sakuma still flinched, a hand instinctively hiding the dead eye, a part of him vaguely hoping it had been enough to hide the hideous sight from Genda.

"Y-yes, I just- it's nothing, don't worry..." Except it wasn't nothing, his eye patch was missing and he couldn't let anyone, let alone him of all the people see, couldn't let him know how ugly the dull and blind eye he always covered truly was. Genda deserved better than that.

Genda wasn't convinced either, a skeptical eyebrow raised, just waiting for an answer to his silent question. The silence didn't last more than a minute, broken by Sakuma's reluctant sigh. It wasn't like he could hide it from Genda anyways.

"I just- I can't find my eye patch. It's nothing, really." That wasn't enough to stop Genda from seeing right through him. He sighed, already knowing Sakuma was in dire need of reassurance despite his claims.

"Listen to me- it's ok, really." And to show him that it was really alright, Genda gently pulled him into a hug, pressing his lips against his temple. "I'll help you look for it, alright?"

Even with that anxiety still clinging to him, Sakuma found himself nodding. It was hard to say no when Genda could so easily manage to make him feel welcome and at ease no matter what.

It was a bit harder to go looking through the locker room and keep a hand on his eye at all times, but somehow he managed. How his eye patch had managed to fall right between the bench and the lockers, he had no idea, but he didn't care either, a tired sigh of relief escaping him as he reached out with his free hand to take the stupid thing from Genda with a mumbled thanks. After a bit of hesitation, he turned his back to Genda, dusting his eye patch and carefully checking it before putting it on again.

"You know, you don't have to hide that from me." The whisper was enough to startle him, nearly dropping his eye patch in the process. Genda just continued, as if nothing of what just happened bothered him at all. Sakuma almost refused to believe that. "I love you for who you are, your blind eye isn't going to change that."

When he dared to glance at him, Sakuma had to try his damn hardest to keep his composure. Genda was still watching him, nothing but warmth and love shining in his eyes and smile. There wasn't even the slightest hint of hesitation or even disgust in his words, just all the support and encouragement he could give.

Sakuma took a deep breath. It felt like a horrible idea, really, but after that, it also felt like the right thing to do. Eye patch forgotten, he slowly lowered his hand. The hideous, milky eye was in plain sight.

For a few, agonizing moments, nothing happened, the silence almost oppressing. Right as Sakuma shut his eyes and started to deeply regret his stupid decision, he felt a pair of warm hands on his cheeks. Startled out of his thoughts, Sakuma dared to take a peek and open his eyes. Genda's smile didn't waver, even when confronted with that ugly eye.

He wanted to ask if he was lying, if he really didn't mind his blind eye, if it didn't disgust him and make him want to leave and never look at him again. All the words died in his throat once Genda placed a kiss on his forehead right over that eye, as gentle and loving as always, like nothing was wrong in the world.

Gone was his rough and brash attitude always keeping people at bay, a shaky smile making its way on his face in its place. It didn't matter how much he loathed his eye, how much he nitpicked at his own imperfections, Genda would always stand by his side, always remind him that he loved him no matter what. He would never let something as small as a blind eye get in the way of that.

When he finally got around to putting the eye patch back in its place, Sakuma felt lighter, better than usual, could forget about the ugliness hiding beneath it at least for a little while.

Maybe it was ok to start taking off the eye patch around Genda.


End file.
